Patterns and Observations

I like to observe people. Watch the way they do things, how they behave, what they wear, how they talk. I pick up patterns. It helps me to get a glimpse into the person.

This last month and a half has been trying on me. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. Observing my own behavior is a lot harder is a lot harder than it is observing other people. But it has forced me to look at the way I process my own emotions and how I handle different situations. This analyzing showed me some patterns that I have in my own life. Patterns that went back way further than I thought they did. I didn't like what I saw and have spent quite a fair amount of time workingonhow to change those behaviors and patterns.

Oswald Chambers writes in his classic devotional, My Utmost for His Highest,

"God requires us to examine our own souls...We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character."

 In a season of resolutions and new goals, it's time that I stop focusing so much on the patterns and behaviors of others and start looking at the ones that I embody. I need to start looking to the one who knows who created my soul and knows it better than I do. I need to start being more intentional about making that my pattern, my goal, my focus.